A Parksville man was given a nine-month jail term for harassing a number of area women, after obtaining their personal information through his work.
Lyle Wayne Denny, 36, pleaded guilty in Nanaimo provincial court to 10 counts of criminal harassment and one count of uttering threats.
He was sentenced on Tuesday, June 22, to the nine months in jail, followed by 18 months of probation.
Court heard that from April 2019 to April 2020, Denny made sexually explicit phone calls and texts from a blocked phone number and asked the women for graphic images. The victim’s personal information was obtained by Denny while he was employed at a car dealership.
“It was very frightening for these people. Not knowing who this person was, but he seemed to have all this information about them,” said Crown prosecutor Brett Webber.
Webber said Denny elevated the victim’s anxiety by proving he knew their home addresses, and he used three or four different numbers to contact them.
“It co-ordinated usually with whoever had dropped their car off for service that day, or close to those days. And his name showed up on the service records as being the service representative. Then the calls would start,” said Webber.
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Crown counsel told the PQB News that Denny’s employment from the dealership was terminated.
His victims varied in age, the youngest being 18 years old.
Webber confirmed that in a pre-sentence report, Denny claimed to have no recollection of his actions, and in a brief statement to the court, said his actions seemed like a dream and weren’t real.
Denny’s probation conditions include restricted access to the internet, as well as not having any further contact with, and staying at least 100 metres away from all of the victims. Webber said Denny will also receive counselling for alcohol addiction.
